Tanner Frank spent the summer in Utah, digging up fossils with brushes and tiny icepicks. The team's discoveries include a dolphin-ish creature and a mystery predator's giant fang. "I didn't shower for two weeks, but it was worth it," he says.

Anima Ghirmire jumped at the chance to do archaeology research in Bermuda. Her team's discovery sheds light on the history of slavery in the Atlantic World. "History in college isn't anything like it is in high school," she says.

"The message is that it's okay to seek out help from people who have dealt with those experiences in the past and can show you the resources that you may not necessarily know of..." says Denzel Cummings.

"In less than 10 weeks these students design and build a small unmanned aerial vehicle, write software to execute a search and rescue exercise, and follow an overall mission strategy," says Juan Alonso, an associate professor of aeronautics and astronautics.

"There are a lot of queer people of color in high school who don't have any role models..." says senior Diana Estrada Alamo. "They may not have anyone who says, 'You can make it to a university and you can succeed there.'"

"I needed to get more experience working with bigger animals and exotic animals, and this program exposed me to many things that I wouldn't have been exposed to had I just worked in the United States," says Morgan Brown.

In this video, student researchers talk about their work on epilepsy, quasars, DNA, and more. "You can't really learn something until you have to do it yourself," says senior Adam Jones. "I see things that I've learned in biology class every day in the lab."

Harold Roth, professor of religious studies, explains the new major. "There are now thousands of articles on the physiological, neurological, and cognitive effects and the clinical impacts of regular contemplative practices," he says.

"Malicious, abusive, or otherwise inappropriate behavior is a huge problem in a variety of online forums," says Jules Dupont. As a freshman, he developed a way to visualize how "social media deviance" happens.

Mark Leary, professor of psychology and neuroscience, explains the origins of homesickness and how to fight it. "The only way to get over homesickness is to reintegrate in the new environment," he says.

"In classrooms, you learn about it through a textbook," says Kim Schmid. "It's cool doing it in person." She's part of a team investigating vernal pools—seasonal ponds that are critical to wildlife like birds, deer, and salamanders.

The people who keep on-campus housing running smoothly—and who have seen many freshmen move in over the years—have some advice for adjusting to college. "You're moving from being a big fish in a small pond to being a small fish in a vast ocean," says Campbell Grey.

Not being able to chat with students from China was a growing problem for Professor Frank Maddox. He'll spend the fall practicing his modern standard Chinese. "You have to be careful or you can call someone's mother a horse," he jokes.